Testing CO monitor

[Let'sgoflying!]

Is there an accepted method to check the monitor is working properly?
Mine is a THNAR model

I fear dangling it behind the car exhaust would damage it

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Something like this (yes/no, cheap):

Whoops, we couldn't find that.

Or to check a bit more strictly, and more expensive, try this:

Whoops, we couldn't find that.

Edit- the links seem to work despite the "Whoops, we couldn't find that" message.
I don't think a properly tuned car running outside should generate much CO.

 

[AV8R_87]

Or, run your lawnmower in the garage (closed) for a couple minutes and take a measurement. I expect at least 200ppm.

 

[GeorgeC]

In a garage, you don't have to hold the monitor very close to the exhaust, or for very long, for the CO to register. Seconds, not minutes.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

I appreciate the research, @Capn Jack however at that price point I’d buy a new one

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

I dangled it at the truck exhaust pipe, nothing.
Thinking it’s dead.

 

[AV8R_87]

I dangled it at the truck exhaust pipe, nothing.

Was the engine running?

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Was the engine running?

lol

 

[Hang 4]

Was the engine running?

Was it a Tesla?

 

[Lindberg]

Or, run your lawnmower in the garage (closed) for a couple minutes and take a measurement. I expect at least 200ppm.

If it shows a reading before you die then it's working.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

If it shows a reading before you die then it's working.

I didn’t hear it alert before, but I think it did after I died, not really sure now. Need to pay better attention I guess.

 

[chemgeek]

I'm not familiar with that model, but the most important things you need to know if it is actually useful is (1) what is the alarm level and (2) what is the dwell time? The other thing to pay attention to is that all amperometric, battery powered CO units have a finite lifetime due to electrolyte depletion. There should be an expiration date on such units.

Devices intended for critical alerting in the transportation sector (trucks, aircraft) should alarm at a low level (say 25 ppm) with a short dwell time (say 30 seconds at that level). Many CO detectors designed for home or workplace use will not alarm until concentrations are multiple 100s of ppm for a long period of time (say 30 minutes). This type of detector is not acceptable for aircraft use.

If your model is one with a long dwell time, you could position it in a stream of 100% CO and it might not alarm for many minutes. The Forensics Detector and Sensorcon units are appropriate for aircraft use, they have digital displays that will show you sub-alert levels of CO, and they can self-calibrate in fresh air.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

I'm trying to decide if it's even important for me, the aircraft I'm flying get their cabin heat from pressurized intake air (turbos)
I guess there is always the remote chance of exhaust coming from other sources ie cabin leaks, but it's not like the risk from a muffler shroud.

 

[Stewartb]

Read the unit’s documents. Most CO monitor’s sensors are life limited. If out of date, replace.

 

[Gary Ward]

If you hold it in auto truck exhaust you will taint it and drastically shorten its life. Don’t do that.​

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

If you hold it in auto truck exhaust you will taint it and drastically shorten its life. Don’t do that.​

i started out with weak concentrations of co, then gradually built up. It’s dead.

 

[camorton]

My test procedure: taxi to runup, point the airplane downwind, set power to idle, open the windows. That always sets mine off.

The prop blows the exhaust rearward, then the breeze kind of reverses it and blows it back into the cabin.

 

[JimBirk]

Fun fact: Umm...one can test a sensitive aviation CO detector by committing flatulence near it. Err...a friend told me that. Yeah, a friend told me...I would never...well...you know...

Just what PoA needs, potentially a new way of evaluating airspeeds.

-- Jim